Market basket.

Tracking A Saucy Success Into The Supermarket

October 23, 1996|By Hugh Hart.

The Hickory Pit restaurant, 2801 S. Halsted St., has been serving ribs to grateful Bridgeport diners since the Beninato family opened it in 1933.

Key to the restaurant's success has been its signature barbecue sauce, a tangy, not-too-sweet recipe. So when Dennis Beninato began co-managing the family business three years ago, he decided that taking the sauce out of the dining room and into the retail market would be a smart way to build the company's assets.

"We were already selling the sauce to customers in our restaurants to take home, so it seemed like a natural to market our sauce on a larger scale," Beninato says.

Although the commercial version of Hickory Pit Bar B/Q is made in a Melrose Park plant, Beninato or his chef samples each batch to make sure the flavor is faithful to the family recipe.

"We're careful that what they're making is exactly what we want, which is a sauce that's not overly spicy, and not sweet like honey," Beninato says.

Its versatility, he says, is another selling point: "We see people in the restaurant put it on french fries or baked potatoes as well as ribs and chicken."

Hickory Pit Bar B/Q sauce is available in hot or mild flavors. Each 18-ounce plastic bottle costs $2.40 to $2.70 at the restaurant and in some Omni, Jewel, Dominick's and Cub stores.

Also on sale at the restaurant is its steak sauce, $2 for a 10-ounce bottle. That product is slated to hit grocery shelves next spring.

The products also can be ordered by calling the restaurant, 312-842-7600; shipping costs extra.